How To Create A YouTube Custom Thumbnail That Attracts More Viewers

What stands out more in the search engines images or text?

Obviously images stand out more that text because your eyes are automatically attracted to them. This results in a higher click through rate compared to a boring text link. YouTube measures the Click Through Rate (CTR) of your thumbnails so if your video receives more clicks it will get higher rankings resulting in more traffic.

YouTube automatically generates standard thumbnails based upon your video clips. These can be very boring to look at particularly if they’re all text or just contain plain images. You need to utilize the custom thumbnail feature to get more views. To achieve this enable the monetization feature before adding a custom thumbnail to every video or any previous videos you uploaded.

How to add a custom YouTube thumbnail

1. Become a YouTube Partner by enabling the monetization settings in your YouTube Channel
2. Upload your video
3. After your video has been processed you’ll see the option to choose a Custom thumbnail under the “Video thumbnails” section.

How to create a custom thumbnail that attracts viewers

1. Create a large image

Use a resolution of 1280×720 (with a minimum width of 640 pixels) using image formats such as .JPG, .GIF, .BMP, or .PNG and keep them under 2MB.

2. Choose an image that reflects the audience you’re trying to reach

You might be tempted to create a thumbnail image that includes action or appears to be “fun.” While this may initially entice your audience at first glance, it doesn’t mean it’s going to engage your target audience, especially if you have a niche audience.

Instead create an image that reflects the content of your video so it persuades your viewers to click on it out of curiosity. One way to do this is to go through your video and create a screen shot of one of your clips. Alternatively get an image from one of the free online resources or if you want a professional one visit iStockphoto.com

3. Add text to your image

Use large enough text so when the image is reduced to thumbnail size the text can still be read when it appears on the search engine results pages or on Facebook. You only have a few words to attract the attention of your viewers so emphasis one major benefit of your video content so it will cause them to click on your video.

You could also use text in combination with your video (ie place the text on tpp of your image). Just make sure your text doesn’t blend into your background. Use contrasting colors to make it stand out from the image.

4. Add custom thumbnails to your old videos

Want more views to your old videos?
Your old videos probably display the thumbnails automatically generated by YouTube therefore upload a custom thumbnail for each video to boost the click through rate.

Now every time you create a new video, make sure you also create an enticing thumbnail that reflects your video content so you can attract more viewers and generate more leads or sales.

Watch How To Create A YouTube Custom Thumbnail on YouTube

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